Manowar ar ahivy metal/pouer metal baund frae Auburn,New York in theUnitit States. They ar weil kent in the metal wurld fer scrievin leerics wi an emphasis onfantasy,meethologie an the metal sub-cultur, as weil as fer being ane o the maist influential baunds on the pouer metal scene. They are cryed efter the "Man o' War", a kynd o warship uist in the 17t century.
Joey DeMaio wis warkin as a bass tech/ pyrotech ferBlack Sabbath whan he met up wi a guitarist wha cryed himsel "Ross the Boss" (he wis in a baund kent asShakin Street, wha wer supportin Sabbath at the tyme). They jammed thegithir an decidit tae form a baund, fer whilk they recruitit Eric Adams as singer an Donny Hamzik on the drums forbye. They warked tae mak an epic metal soond, a soond whilk foond its wie ontae their first album,Battle Hymns (1980) an haes bydit in their muisic evir syne. The debut album wisnae as "metal" as thet later wark, wi sum sangs on it haen a mair "haird rock" feel tae thaim, bot the baisic framewark wis in place, an the endin sangBattle Hymn is muisically an leerically teepical o the baund's ootpit in monie wies. On this album, Manowar became the ainlie baund tae record muisic wiOrson Welles, wha narratit the sangDark Avenger (Welles wad cum bak tae Manowar fer tae record narratin on theInto Glory Ride album in 1982 an anithir sang cryedDefender whilk wis rewarked fer theFighting the World album in 1987).The baund wis jyned bi drummer Scott Columbus fer their seicond album,Into Glory Ride (1982). Their offeecial biography thrieps that his style o playin wis sae "viscous" that it wad cowp normal drum kits an sae special anes haed tae be made oot o steel fer him tae uise. This is teepical o monie o Manowar's thriepins (ithirs include that they signed their recorddin contrack in their ain bluid, that fowk hae dee'd at their shaws frae the volume etc. Naebodie kens whithir or no thir stories is true, bot they hae helped tae big the image o Manowar).Ane o Manowar's thriepins whilk can be supportit is the title oWurld's Loodest Baund, a raicord they hauld an hae broken thrie tymes. TheGuinness Book of World Records haulds that they ance played at 160decibels, whilk is as lood as a jet engyne!Custom soond graith wis bigged fer the baund bi John "Dawk" Stillwell, whilk helpit thaim tae achieve their gey muckle soond.Ower the years, Manowar's soon haesna chynged a wheen, tho it haes been notit bi monie fans an critics that on recent albums the elements oclessical muisic (orchestras, quiers, symphonic interludes etc.) are becummin mair important at the expense o the strauchtforrit metal sangs whilk made the baund their name.
Manowar wer weil kent in the 1980s fer their leither an furs image whilk they teuk on tae match the epic, battle relatit themes o their leerics. This lead tae album kivers sic asthis aneArchived 2007-06-14 at theWayback Machine, whilk hae fer obvious reisons become a tairget o fun amang metal fans the day, espeecialy on internet forums an sic like. Nou the baund ar aulder an dinnae wear sic claes as in the auchties, bot still keep tae leither, motorcycles an lang hair in a mair teepical (an less obviously camp) metal style.
Accordin tae the baund'soffeecial wabstaid, Manowar foond a wheen o tift frae the wark o famous clessical componerRichard Wagner, wha bassist DeMaio thrieps wis "The faither o heavy metal". Forbye the baund also tak muisical tift frae clessic metal baunds sic asBlack Sabbath (Manowar wad sumtymes thriep in eirlie interviews that forbye thaimsels, Sabbath war the ainlie "true metal" baund aroond). Leericaly they tak tift frae fantasy novels an buiks, sic asConan the Barbarian an sic like.
Fer tae tak mair control o their muisic, recordin, distribuitin, merchandise etc. DeMaio foondit a raicord label cryedMagic Circle Music in 2002. The main reison fer this, accordin tae singer Eric Adams, wis acause o unfair treatment o the baund bi raicord labels in the past, and tae prevent ithir baunds frae dreein the same; as weil as tae ensure the maist hie quality o production. Ithir acks on the label includeRhapsody of Fire,Holy Hell an the solo wark o Rhapsody of Fire guitarist Luca Turilli.
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